Markets trade near lowest points of day in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets erased all the gains to turn negative again in late afternoon session, breaching their crucial 59100 (Sensex) and 17650 (Nifty) levels. Markets are hovering near the lowest points of the day. A level of pressure was seen on frontline stocks, especially Asian Paints, Power Grid and Bajaj Auto. The market got hit after India's external debt rose modestly by 2.1 per cent year-on-year to USD 570 billion as of March-end 2021, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic. External debt to GDP ratio rose marginally to 21.1 per cent from 20.6 per cent as at end-March 2020. Traders took note of report that government has again extended the existing foreign trade policy (FTP) for another six months till March 31 next year. Earlier, it had extended the FTP (2015-20) until September 30 this year due to the COVID-19 crisis. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after the U.S. Senate announced it would vote on a stopgap funding bill later in the day to prevent a government shutdown. European markets were trading higher after the sharp losses earlier this week, helped by stronger than expected U.K. second-quarter growth and a sharp jump in French consumer spending.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59,090.87, down by 322.4 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 59083.75 and 59557.24. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.17%, Realty up by 1.01%, Utilities up by 0.48%, Power up by 0.45% and Healthcare was up by 0.39%, while Bankex down by 0.69%, Energy down by 0.53%, Auto down by 0.44%, IT down by 0.41%, Metal down by 0.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.66%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.47%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.78%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.70% and NTPC up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.64%, Power Grid down by 2.43%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.91%, Axis Bank down by 1.44% and SBI down by 1.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to provide a boost to the exports sector, the Government has approved continuation of the National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) scheme and infusion of Rs 1,650 crore Grant-in-Aid over 5 years.

The capital infusion in NEIA Trust will help the Indian Project Exporters (IPE) to tap the huge potential of project exports in focus market. Support to project exports with Indian content sourced from across the country will enhance the manufacturing in India.

Corpus contribution of Rs 1,650 crore will enhance the underwriting capacity of the Trust and will enable NEIA to support project exports worth Rs 33,000 crore at full capacity utilization that in turn will translate into an estimated output of domestically manufactured goods to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore approximately.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,611.90, down by 99.40 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 17604.65 and 17742.15. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.76%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.36%, Grasim Industries up by 1.25%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.93% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.74%, Power Grid down by 2.41%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.93%, Axis Bank down by 1.71% and SBI down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Jakarta Composite soared 124.39 points or 2.02% to 6,286.94, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 79.31 points or 0.47% to 16,934.77, Shanghai Composite gained 31.88 points or 0.9% to 3,568.17, Straits Times advanced 15.84 points or 0.52% to 3,090.15 and KOSPI was up by 8.55 points or 0.28% to 3,068.82. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 87.86 points or 0.36% to 24,575.64 and Nikkei 225 was down by 91.63 points or 0.31% to 29,452.66.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 36.20 points or 0.51% to 7,144.36, France’s CAC increased 31.17 points or 0.48% to 6,591.97 and Germany’s DAX was up by 5.77 points or 0.04% to 15,371.04.